- April 24, 2024
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A 14-year-old Indian Trails Middle School student made a video of himself holding a gun and saying "he was sick of people, and he was going to kill someone," and specifically threatening a girl, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.
FCSO deputies arrested the student Feb. 15 and charged him with making written threats to kill or do bodily harm, a felony. The incident occurred just days after another local boy, a 13-year-old Buddy Taylor Middle School student, was arrested and charged with threatening to commit a school shooting.
The boy allegedly made the threatening video Feb. 14, after the girl had slapped the boy because she was angry about rumors spreading around that school that she'd had sexual relations with him.
It came to the attention of school staff Feb. 15. The 14-year-old suspect had sent the video — showing him brandishing a handgun he'd gotten from his parents' bedroom — to a girl who was friends with the victim. He had instructed the girl to show it to the victim, according to an FCSO charging affidavit.
"He wanted the message to be clear to [the victim] that he was going to shoot her, while displaying a handgun to the camera," according to the affidavit.
The witness who received the video was alarmed. She showed the video to the victim, but also alerted school staff.
The victim later told a deputy that she was afraid after watching the video, because the suspect lives just minutes from her home.
[The victim] "states this all happened because of a rumor that was spread in the school about the two of them having sexual relations," the charging affidavit states.
The victim acknowledged to deputies that she'd gotten angry and slapped the 14-year-old across the face when she confronted him.
A deputy interviewed the 14-year-old suspect, who said that he and the girl had engaged in sexual activity, and that she became mad when rumors began circulating. He said she'd slapped him across the face on two occasions, both times off campus.
The boy showed deputies the threatening video, which was on his cell phone.
Deputies confiscated the phone.
“This has to stop," Sheriff Rick Staly said in an FCSO news release about the case. "Students – violence is not the answer and will only get you in serious trouble. Parents – we have been spreading the message ‘see something, say something’ for over a year now. With cell phones and social media, it is more important than ever to pay attention to what your children are doing online, get involved in their lives, and make sure your children know right from wrong and the consequences they face if they make the wrong choice. We have a zero tolerance policy for threats in Flagler County.”
